Today’s opera is Massenet’s Werther, with the love sick swain sung by Vittorio Grigolo, who was our handsome Romeo a couple weeks ago. Such a gorgeous voice the man has! The singers are excellent, the music is lovely, the plot imbecilic–in short, a typical opera, and a pleasant entertainment for a sunny Saturday.
But who can listen to Werther without remembering Thackeray’s delightfully spiteful little poem about it? Not I!
WERTHER had a love for Charlotte
Such as words could never utter;
Would you know how first he met her?
She was cutting bread and butter.Charlotte was a married lady,
And a moral man was Werther,
And for all the wealth of Indies
Would do nothing for to hurt her.So he sighed and pined and ogled,
And his passion boiled and bubbled,
Till he blew his silly brains out,
And no more was by it troubled.Charlotte, having seen his body
Borne before her on a shutter,
Like a well-conducted person,
Went on cutting bread and butter.
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